May 23, 2002 - Two new models of the inDART-ST7 series of low-cost, powerful in-circuit emulators/programmers for the STMicroelectronics ST7 family have been released. inDART-ST7F/561 supports the ST72F561 microcontroller; inDART-ST7F/6XX supports the ST72F621, 622, 623, 63B, 651 and 652 microcontrollers.

The two new models take advantage of the latest release of STMicroelectronics' STVD7 (Visual Debug) Integrated Development Environment and the ISP (In-System Programming) feature to program the FLASH memory of the microcontrollers. Together with STVD7, they provide users with everything they need to write, compile, download, in-circuit emulate and debug user code. Full speed program execution allows users to perform hardware and software testing in real time. Like previous inDART-ST7F series models, inDART-ST7F/561 and inDART-ST7F/6XX are connected to the host PC through an USB port, while the 10-pin probe of the debuggers fit into the target's standard ISP connector. The instruments are powered by the USB bus, so an external power supply is no required.

ISP programming uses a serial protocol to interface a programming tool like inDART. The ISP feature can be implemented with a minimum number of added components and board area impact. inDART-ST7F series emulators use the standard, 10-pin ST7 ISP connector to program and in-circuit emulate the target device. The ISP feature allows users to update the content of the FLASH program memory while the device is plugged into or soldered to the application board--device removal is not necessary. Likewise, during debugging, the very same target device mounted in the application board is used.

The inDART-ST7 user interface (common for all of the inDART-ST7 series in-circuit debuggers) is based on the ST7 Visual Debug Integrated Development Environment (STVD7). STVD7 enables programs to be executed and stopped where desired, while viewing the memory contents. It offers the ability to step through and examine code at the C source level and the Assembly instruction level. Users can set breakpoints and run or single-step the executable, while viewing the source and observing current program values. All registers and memory locations are accessible for both read and write operations.